Louisiana puts $1.7 million more toward crime victim services

Updated October 17, 2018 at 7:58 AM;Posted October 16, 2018 at 4:35 PM

A comprehensive overhaul of criminal justice laws was approved by the Louisiana Legislature in 2017, driven in part by Gov. John Bel Edwards' pledge to shed the state's reputation for being the incarceration capital of the world. Dozens of changes will slow, or perhaps reverse, the "tough on crime" trend that has dominated debate over the past few decades. (Photo by Scott Threlkeld, The Times-Picayune archive)

Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Tuesday (Oct. 16) the designation of the extra funding for victim services. The plan for the money looks similar to one presented to the Louisiana Legislature's joint budget committee by the Department of Corrections in August.

The $1.7 million will be used the following ways:

Creating a new family justice center in East Baton Rouge parish to serve victims of domestic violence ($750,000).

Paying off some of the backlog of victim claims for medical bills and other expenses associated with the crime committed against them ($300,000).

Creating a computer system for all local clerks of courts to make notifying victims of what's happening with their perpetrators' cases easier.

Helping fund the administrative costs of these new programs through the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Criminal Justice ($250,000).

An overhaul of Louisiana's criminal laws has led to fewer people in prison and saved the state $12.2 million in its first year of operation. By law, at least $8.5 million of that savings must go back into services meant to keep people out of prison, with 20 percent used specifically for victims services.

Later this week, Edwards is expected to announce where an additional $2.6 million of the funding will go. Nonprofits, parishes and judges applied for grants with the prison system for that funding to expand incarceration alternatives and offer more support services for people getting out of prison.

Department of Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc intends to spend most of the $8.5 million in savings on offenders from Orleans, Jefferson, St. Tammany, Caddo and East Baton Rouge parishes.